Raise your hand if you’ve heard this story before. It’s certainly become a familiar tale when you’re talking about Georgia’s last four games.
With 24 seconds to play, Auburn’s Chuma Okeke hit a fadeaway three-pointer to break a tie score. Plenty of time remained.
However, it wasn’t enough, as Tyree Crump ultimately lost the ball before forcing a wild shot which allowed the Tigers to hang on to a 78-75 win.
“It’s tough to lose that way. Chuma made a tough three. He’s fading away. He was shooting 47 percent from home, 32 on the road and he hit his second one tonight,” Georgia head coach Tom Crean said. “We certainly weren’t backing off, the majority of those guys are three-point shooters, but he hit a fadeaway three.”
It’s been that kind of year for the Bulldogs, who lost their 13th straight conference game and ninth straight overall.
The last four games have been particularly painful.
Georgia took LSU to the final minute before falling 83-79, before dropping back-to-back games to Mississippi State and on the road at Ole Miss by single points.
Wednesday’s defeat didn’t help anyone’s feelings.
The Bulldogs (10-18, 1-14) trailed by as many as 14 points before rallying back, with the lead changing hands 10 times over the final 10:36.
A three-pointer by Nicolas Claxton tied the score at 75 with 54 seconds left before the win ultimately slipped away. Back-to-back blocks by Derek Ogbeide and Claxton led Auburn (19-9, 8-7) with just three seconds on the shot clock. But that would be enough time for Okeke – who made the shot falling back, giving the Tigers the lead and ultimately breaking the Bulldogs’ collective heart once again.
“We had our hand up. We just didn’t get our execution at the end,” Crean said. “We’ve got to learn to play a 40-minute game. That’s one of the things that are hard. You certainly want the value of coming back and having a chance to win, but we’ve got to do a better job in the middle, sometimes at the beginning.”
On Georgia’s ensuing possession, had plenty of time to try and either work for a quick basket or set up a game-tying three. Unfortunately, neither happened as Crump ultimately lost possession, forcing the junior guard to put up a wild shot which fell short of the mark.
Crean – who had a timeout to call – was asked why he did not.
“We didn’t need a timeout, we just had one,” said Crean, who called a timeout right after Claxton’s block with three seconds on the shot clock. “You have to have a play ready for man or zone. That’s what we had. We just didn’t get the loose ball.”
Jordan Harris – who led the Bulldogs with 18 points – said the Bulldogs ideally would have worked the ball inside for a quick score.
“When you’re in the pressure of the moment, you’re down three, of course you’re going to try and answer the three, but the smartest play would have been to get the ball inside,” Harris said. “We were in the bonus and you never know … so many things could have happened but we tried to go for the three. Not saying that was a bad idea, but we could have done a better job.”
Crean agreed the idea was not to simply go down and attempt a three.
"We had a play call on. We had a play called for man or zone out of the -- before we took the -- before they made the shot. And we just didn't execute it. We wanted to get a ball screen up high. Have Derek -- what we call a roll screen for Tyree," Crean said. "We wanted to duck in Nick and the post and lift Jordan and there's plenty of time. 25 seconds like that. Even when we got the ball entered, plenty of time to score."
Three other players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, including Claxton with 14, with Ogbeide and Turtle Jackson adding 13 each.
Jared Harper led the Tigers with 22 points with Okeke chipping in with 13 and Horace Spencer 10.
Jackson scored all 13 the first half alone.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, not much else did.
Six difference players combined to convert eight first-half 3s for the Tigers, who at point made four straight, to build a 24-20 lead with 11:40 on the clock.
Georgia would climb back within five on a three-point play by Claxton, but Auburn would answer with a pushing the margin back to double-digits at 41-30 on a dunk by Spencer, ultimately settling for a 50-40 halftime lead.
